Chapter 649 - The Coles
Chapter 649: The Coles
With the exclamation, everyone turned to look at the spiral staircase on the second floor. They saw Alexis, the star of today’s party and the princess everyone adored.
She finally made her appearance!
Alexis was wearing a silvery-blue starry dress with a tight halter top cinched at the waist. Starting from her waist down, the rest of her dress began to look like stardust flowing down to the hem at the bottom, with the color of the fabric gradually turning from white to ocean blue. The ethereal design made the already youthful and beautiful Alexis look like a fairy that had descended on earth.
The numerous tiny diamonds at the hem of her dress were shimmering brightly under the light.
It was luxurious, graceful, ethereal, and refined.
She was Alexis, the host of the party and the birthday girl at the center of attention.
“Wow, she’s gorgeous!”
“Her beauty is divine. She’s really pretty!”
“I’m so attracted to her!”
All of a sudden, the banquet hall was full of exclamations of awe and admiration.
Many women began to praise Alexis genuinely from the bottom of their hearts, not to mention the wealthy scions in the banquet hall—their eyes were all glued onto her.
There was a middle-aged couple standing beside Alexis, and those familiar with the Coles knew that they were Alexis’s father and mother, Clement Cole and Jennifer Lane.
Clement stood on the steps, looking at the crowd in the hall below, and said with a cordial smile, “It’s my daughter’s, Alexis’s, twentieth birthday today. Thank you all for coming to join us in the celebration. I hope you enjoy yourselves tonight!”
Jennifer was dressed in a presentable lilac dress, looking exceptionally graceful and elegant. She said to the crowd with an amicable smile, “Most of you here are our old friends. Thank you all very much for coming to celebrate my daughter’s birthday!”
“Uncle Clement and Aunt Jennifer, you’re both too polite!”
“Haha, it’s our honor to receive an invitation to the birthday party of the beautiful Miss Cole!”
…
In an instant, the atmosphere in the hall became extremely lively, and countless people greeted Clement and Jennifer. Of course, most of them were also praising Alexis, the star of the party.
Lucas naturally wouldn’t do this. He simply stood in place quietly and shook the cocktail in his hand like a complete outsider.
But it was the first time he saw Alexis’s parents, and based on first impressions, they seemed to be rather easygoing.
“They’re Alexis’s parents, right? How are they?” Lucas asked softly.
Since he and the Coles were fated to share some ties, and they would definitely have some dealings in the future, he should learn more about them, especially since Alexis’s parents were also important people.
Only then did Connor realize that Lucas wasn’t close to the Coles in the past and that this was his first time meeting Clement and Jennifer.
He inched closer to Lucas and explained softly, “Clement is Mr. Edmund Cole’s only son, but he didn’t inherit his father’s character. I heard that he’s pretty incompetent, and he once created a lot of trouble for the Coles because of his mistakes. Later on, Mr. Cole decided not to let him take over as helmsman. That’s why he’s still holding power now.”
Standing beside Lucas, Kenneth also said softly, “Indeed, Clement Cole looks smart and shrewd, but many people criticize him for his incompetence. I heard my grandfather mention in the past that Mr. Cole used to say openly that the position of the helmsman of the Cole family will never be handed to Clement unless Mr. Cole passes away.”
Lucas seemed surprised to hear what they said, and he couldn’t help looking at Clement a few more times.
Based on appearance, he really couldn’t tell that Clement was so incompetent.
But there are all sorts of strange things in this world, so it wasn’t that surprising to him after all.
Lucas was more surprised by the fact that Clement was completely different from Edmund, who was righteous, good at socializing, powerful, strategic, and skillful, which was the very reason that he had managed to build his business empire from scratch and develop the Coles to what they were today.
Moreover, although Alexis was young, she was quirky, smart, and valiant, very much like Edmund.
Yet why was Alexis’s father, Edmund’s son, so incompetent?
“What about Alexis’s mother?” Lucas asked.
Connor said, “I heard that Alexis’s mother, Jennifer Lane, is a very capable person born to a notable family in DC. She’s disciplined and proper. Now, she holds quite a significant amount of power in the Cole family, at least much greater than her husband.
“I’ve also heard that if it wasn’t for her helping Clement with his affairs, Mr. Cole would have handed his position straight to Alexis.”
This time, Lucas was really a little surprised.
He again looked at Jennifer, who was standing on the staircase steps on the second floor with a warm and amicable smile. “Is this woman that capable?”
Lena chimed in, “Aunt Jennifer is indeed very competent. She may seem gentle and nice, just like other wives of wealthy men, but she’s not any less skillful than men. If not for her help, I’m afraid the whole world would have heard about how incompetent Clement Cole is by now.”
“Yes, my grandfather often says the same. He said that if Clement Cole was as competent as his wife, the Coles might have become the largest hegemon in San Francisco, and the trinity of forces would no longer exist,” Kenneth added.
Hearing the comments made by Connor, Kenneth, and Lena, Lucas understood that Clement was probably an extremely incompetent person who only looked good on the surface.
All of a sudden, Lucas felt sorry for Edmund.
He hadn’t had much contact with Edmund. But when they drank and chatted together in the Lion Restaurant, Lucas had already learned some of Edmund’s past, including the fact that he had once fought in Calico during his younger days.
As far as Lucas knew about Edmund, he felt that Edmund wasn’t a power-hungry person. So logically speaking, he could have handed over his position as family head to his descendants long ago and stayed at home to enjoy his retirement.
But Edmund was now in his seventies and suffered from serious heart disease. Yet he still hadn’t passed on the position of family head to his only son. Instead, he was still running the family despite being old and sick.
Since his only son, Clement, was weak and incompetent, and Alexis was only 20 years old, which was way too young to take over for him, who could he hand his position to?
It wasn’t that Edmund didn’t want to pass the power to someone else. But rather, his son simply couldn’t gain his trust!
At this moment, another commotion started in the hall. Lucas looked up to see a servant pushing an enormous and tall cake over.
It was time to deliver birthday wishes and to blow out the candles.